By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist and Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.
Another Queen’s University Homecoming season is in the books, with record-breaking alumni attendance at the official event and a continuing trend of fewer major party-related disruptions.
The 100th edition of Queen’s Homecoming welcomed a record-breaking number of alumni from Oct. 16-18, with over 4000 attendees. ‘Foco’ followed the next weekend, continuing a pattern that has emerged in recent years as the University schedules its official Homecoming during undergraduate students’ fall reading week.
The return of large-scale street gatherings after pandemic restrictions were lifted made for particularly difficult years for enforcement. In 2022, more than 80 charges were laid and nearly $89,000 in fines were issued.
Since then, charges, fines and overall disruption have steadily declined.
This year’s ‘Foco’ weekend did see crowds gather in the University District. Kingston Police declared and cleared nuisance parties on University Avenue in the early afternoon and later that evening, but no major incidents were reported.
CFRC spoke with the City’s Manager of Enforcement Services, Steve Mothersell, to recap both weekends from an enforcement perspective.
Listen to the story here.